Welcome to The Occupational Adventure archives. Here you'll find over
1,000 posts here on various topics related to finding passion in your
career. Check the archive page for posts by both month and topic (scroll down for topics).

Please visit my new blog: The M.A.P. MakerMeaning, Abundance, & Passion in your career and in your life

August 13, 2012

I hear people talking about thinking outside the box all the time, but it seems to be easier said than done.

My theory is that one of the reasons getting "outside the box" is so challenging for people is that they don't really have any idea what that box even looks like. It's hard to get beyond the box when you don't know where the walls of that box are, how high they are, or what they're made of.

We all bring a pile of assumptions to our view of the world around us. Sometimes those assumptions lubricate the gears of day to day life, but sometimes they just plain get in the way. The walls of our boxes are often made with assumptions we don't even realize we're making.

Next time you're trying to come up with an idea or a solution that doesn't follow the lemming hordes, try asking yourself this simple question..."What assumptions am I making?"

Once you identify your "assumed truth," ask yourself if there might be other ways of looking at it. You may just find that doing that not only helps you get outside the box, it dismantles the box altogether.

Pursuing your passion in your career is definitely an outside the box endeavor. What do the walls of your box look like?

August 10, 2012

In the article on making your own luck that I referred to in yesterday's post, one of the five luck-making elements mentioned was "recognizing opportunities." It's much the same with bringing passion into one's career. A key component is recognizing the opportunity to do it.

"Duh," you may be thinking. But you'd be surprised at how often we don't.

Often, we're so heads down, focused on the task at hand, that we never see the opportunities that continually fly past us. Or we're so stuck in a rut that we forget to take our eyes off the path we're on to see what else might be out there.

And strange as it may seem, we often wouldn't even know what opportunity looked like if it came up and goosed us.

Why are we so blind to opportunity? One reason is the same reason so many people end up going down career paths that seem devoid of meaning and passion - they don't have a good, deep awareness of what's important to them at a core level. They may have a vague notion, but they can't put a finger on it specifically. Which in turn makes it difficult if not impossible to draw on that insight to help them recognize opportunity.

In my work, I help clients create what I call their Passion Core (sm), that internal compass that will point them in the right direction. In a nutshell, the Passion Core is the answer to the question, what makes you tick? What are the things that are going to make your career feel rich, fulfilling and fun?

Once people are aware of that, their eyes start opening to the opportunities around them, because now they have a frame of reference. Suddenly, they see how some particular project offers more of the elements that are key to keeping them energized and engaged, or how doing things a little differently would make everything a lot more fun.

As you move forward in your career, keep scanning the horizon for opportunities to incorporate more of what lights your fire. Look at ideas and opportunities and ask yourself, does this have the potential to increase the joy in my work? How could I make this a part of what I do?

You just might be surprised how much opportunity is actually out there when you start to look.

August 09, 2012

Looking at my site stats today, I saw that someone had found this blog by doing a Google search on "setting adventure goals for yourself." I first saw that and thought, what a cool idea. We spend so much time setting and pursuing "productive" goals. What about goals for the adventure in our lives?

My brain immediately leapfrogged that question and thought, "and what about adventure goals for our careers?" After all, that's really what I'm talking about here. Creating a career that isn't just an empty, dry source of a paycheck, but a juicy, sumptuous adventure.

So why not think of it in terms of adventure goals? Not just "I want to have accomplished x, y, and z," but "I want to have had this, this, and that adventure." Could be big adventures, or could be little ones.

As long as I'm on a random stream of consciousness here, why don't I start?

[Visual aid: I just went to the whiteboard and started scribbling away at a mind map of sorts. My question was, what's going to feel like adventure for me?]

Here are the main ideas that felt like potential adventure sources for me:

This isn't about setting goals that define what I'm doing and where I'm going. It's not about trying to change my focus or my direction (I love what I'm doing now!). It's about looking for individual opportunities/adventures that will let me add even more energy and excitement to the mix.

Take travel, for example. The next question is how could I weave travel opportunities into what I do? I could go to relevant conferences elsewhere in the country. I could focus on getting speaking opportunities outside the Pacific Northwest. I could do an informal "like minds" summit in the San Juan Islands (north of Seattle) over a weekend. The list goes on.

When I turned my attention to exploration, I thought of both self-exploration and exploration of ideas with others (I see the idea exploration with others as some kind of a "primordial soup" for new ideas to evolve). Each of those things contains numerous adventures waiting to be had.

The possibilities are endless. Part of what this seems to be doing is creating an adventure menu for me to pick from as I move foreward. Bite-sized adventure nuggets, if you will. ;)

I like this idea. I love where stream of consciousness blogging takes me. This seems like it could be a valuable exercise whether you want to identify ways to squeeze more juice out of a career you already love, or add a little sizzle to a path that leaves something to be desired.

August 08, 2012

If there's one thing that's the kiss of death to passion, it's that urge we seem to have to "get realistic." I'd like to challenge you to do just the opposite...getunrealistic!

Write down ten things you would love to do, but when you think of them you hear that voice telling you, "that's not realistic." Maybe it's because the dream seems too big, or you don't have the kind of training it takes, or the money.

Put that list where you can see it. Taped to your wall by you desk, maybe. And then just plant the question in the back of your head, "how could I make them happen?" Let yourself mull over ideas. Write them down as they come (a great application for the capturing your idea-gems post a while back).

At the very least, it's a great way to start developing the habit of looking for the creative path to get where you want to go. And who knows? You may just find that what you thought was unrealistic has a healthy dose of reality after all.

August 07, 2012

I recently bought a bamboo flute. Of course, typical me, I had no clue how to play it.

What, you might ask, does a bamboo flute have to do with careers? Believe it or not, it's actually related to my earlier post about perfectionism being a big ol' boulder standing smack in the middle of the path to Occupational Adventure.

As I played the first tentative notes on my flute, it reminded me of when I first picked up the recorder a few months back. I bought a "how-to" book, but after a preliminary browsing I promptly lost interest in it.

Instead of getting fixated on "the right way to learn," I just started audiodoodling. I kept it next to me at my desk, or wherever I happened to be working, and developed a habit of just picking it up now and then, giving it a couple toots, and putting it down. At first it was just a note or two, then a measure or two. Eventually I got to the point where I would pick it up and play while my mind wandered elsewhere.

Bottom line, I just let it be play, and didn't hang any expectations on it. I wasn't out to master it - I just wanted it to be fun.

Eventually I opened the book and started to learn the notes and corresponding fingerings. By that time, my fingers had gotten familiar enough with playing that it was a lot easier to learn (though you can still definitely tell the difference when I go from my audiodoodles to reading music - it sounds like someone suddenly gave me a temporary lobotomy).

If I had approached it very rigidly from the beginning, the fact that I wasn't any good would have been frustrating, and then judgment would enter the picture, all of which would conspire to keep me from making progress.

Now back to the whole career thing (really, I do have a point here).

Learning to play the recorder, I took baby steps (you'll remember I'm a HUUUUUUGE fan of baby steps). I didn't get caught up in aiming at perfection. I just let it unfold.

The need to perform and excel right out of the starting gate is often an enormous stumbling block for people thinking about new careers. It's the classic wanting to sprint before even learning to crawl. The result is either that they don't take any steps at all - because they can't be the best right away - or they get down on themselves because they're not good enough, fast enough.

The career version of audiodoodling - careerdoodling - could be just the thing. Taking little steps. Keeping it fun. Keeping it interesting. Keeping it low pressure.

How about you? How could you start careerdoodling your way towards a new career? Reading a book? Taking a class? Meeting people? Maybe dipping your hand into a project to see what it's like?

August 06, 2012

...how does one deal with the loss of interest in the day job when starting out on this new moonlighting adventure? Is there a trick to continuing to perform at peak potential in the job you are hoping to leave one day?

Great question. I don't have a nice tidy answer for that one - my guess is that it will vary from person to person, and from job to job. Off the top of my head, here are a few ideas. I would love to hear ideas from the rest of you as well.

Ask yourself, "what motivates me?" Try to build more of that into your work. For example, if you're super-competitive, how could you use that to help you stay motivated?

I once bet a friend who was starting to learn Spanish at the same time I was that my Spanish would be better than hers at the end of a year (we planned on hiring a Spanish teacher to test us). I think the bet was for lunch or some such thing, but it really was for bragging rights. We never did do the testing, but it kept us really motivated in those difficult early weeks of learning the language.

Take stock in your current job. What are the positive aspects? Try being aware of those things as your days unfold and focus on them. Look for opportunities to bring more of what you enjoy into your day to day.

Make your work relevant to your new business. Look for opportunities to gain experience that you might be able to apply to your new venture. Try making a list of the "R&D" opportunities that might be available to you at your current job, and start pursuing them.

Find a motivation partner. Maybe someone at work, or someone who works someplace else. Get together for lunch once a week to talk about what's going on in your work, where the motivation is lagging, what you might be able to do. Get an outside perspective.

Develop goals for yourself. Share them with someone else (e.g., your motivation partner). Plan what you want to accomplish this week. Plan what you want to accomplish today.

Take a risk at work. Take on a project that is outside your comfort zone. Something that will challenge you. Now is not the time to go into hybernation.

Vary your routine. Even just a little change in the same ol' same ol' can sometimes make a difference.

Remember that you're not superhuman. Give yourself permission to have some down time as well. You've got to keep that well filled.

That's it off the top of my head. I would love to hear others' suggestions!

August 03, 2012

Want a quick and easy question to help you get a perspective on your career? Try this one:

"Is this where the joy is?"

Take a look at the choices you're making, and ask yourself, "Is this where the joy is?" First take a look at your overall job (or your last job, if you're in the job search). Ask the question. Be honest. If it's not, it might be time to start taking a look at making some changes.

Now take a look at the different aspects of your job. Ask yourself again, "Is this where the joy is?" You might find that some things really do turn your crank, while others leave feeling vaguely like a dead fish. If you're not in a place where you're ready to make a career change, is there any way you can turn up the volume on any joy-laden activity you identify, and reduce the amount of dead fish activity?

It's a simple question that can spark some serious insights. And as always, follow it up with my favorite question, "Why?"

August 02, 2012

When you look at the future, try taking a view of wonder and curiosity.

I wonder how I could. When you catch yourself saying, "I can't," replace it with, I wonder how I could.

I wonder what would happen if... Life is chock full of the potential for experimentation. Take the mad scientist approach to your career. Try something and see what happens. Learn from it and apply that knowledge to your path. Approaching a step with curiosity removes the huge burden of "must...have...success."

I wonder what I could do. Feeling stuck? So often we get in the rut of feeling like our options are only black and white. Let yourself explore the full spectrum of possibilities in between. This relates to my favorite theme - baby steps!

I wonder who else has done this. I wonder how they did it. It might feel like you're adrift at sea, navigating waters that have never been charted, but the reality is there are others who have been there (or at least someplace similar) before. Look for them. Learn from them.

I wonder how I'm getting in my way.If there's one thing I've learned, it's that the majority of obstacles people face (myself included!) are located between their ears. A sense of curiosity about how you might be getting in your own way opens the door to exploration and growth without self-criticism.

What else could you wonder about to move you forward? Would love to see your ideas here.

August 01, 2012

In a recent post I posted a link to an article talking about personal change styles. Farther down in the article, there is a list of "key points in successful change." Here's one I really liked:

Giving positive strokes to oneself is as important as giving them to others. But self-criticism is easier than self-stroking.

Whew! Isn't that the truth. We're so trained to look at things and say, "How could I do this better? What did I do wrong that I could improve next time?" When that becomes our sole way of viewing our accomplishments (as it often does), it becomes a huge weight.

Think about it. If every time you try something, you get a bonk on the head and hear, "Not good enough," how inspired are you going to be to really put yourself out there and try something new?

How often do you tell yourself, "You did a great job!" without following it up with "...but you could have done this and this better?" For many people, that over-active self-criticism is an obstacle to their dreams they don't even realize is there because it's such an ingrained habit.

Over the next week, try a little experiment. Pay attention to how you talk to yourself. Do you give yourself unconditional positive strokes? Do you always look for the things you could have done better, rather than celebrating the things you did well?

When my clients do this, they consistently find that the simple act of paying attention to the way they talk to themselves makes them more positive in their approach.

If your positive strokes feel few and far between, try creating a new habit to incorporate them. Start small. Every day, sit down and identify one thing you did well that day. One thing about yourself that you're pleased with. Big or small.

Because the first step to building on your greatness (and you DO have it) is noticing that it's there.

July 31, 2012

I learned something early on in my Passion Catalyst experience, and that is...

Wisdom is the fruit of my folly.

In the early days, as I was building my Passion Catalyst work out of the ashes of a crash and burn career, I spent a lot of energy beating myself up for not having exercised better judgment when times were good.

Dissatisfaction with my previous career (as a self-employed marketing consultant) had spun me into a cycle of "earn money - play/travel till the money was gone - earn money again". It might sound like a fun lifestyle choice, but it was really just avoidance. I was on the wrong path.

When the dot com implosion hit, I was at the nadir of the cycle. "Oops, broke again!" I was self-unemployed, with no savings to speak of, no safety net, and not even a whiff of revenue possibility on the horizon.

As the bleakness of my situation dawned on me, I began berating myself for having been such an idiot when times were good and the money had flowed at the snap of my fingers. Why hadn't I worked harder and earned more money? Why hadn't I done a better job of saving for a rainy day? Why? Why?! I was angry with myself.

My self-flagellation was, of course, completely counter-productive. I needed to put that energy to use elsewhere. One day, in talking to a close friend about it, I finally sighed in resignation, and said with a half-grin, "Ah well. Wisdom is the fruit of my folly."

That stuck. I liked it so much that I wrote it down on my whiteboard, where it stayed to serve as a reminder to put my energy toward growth and the future.

So if you find yourself beating yourself up over a bonehead move (hey, we all make them!), just take a deep breath and remind yourself, "Wisdom is the fruit of my folly." Ask yourself what you just learned, and move on. Save your energy for better things.

July 30, 2012

So often, I see people get down on themselves for weaknesses they don't really have. They try to shove their natural talents and inclinations into a box, and when the curves and bumps of their natural shape are at odds with the shape of the box, they say, "Oh, why can't I be more box-like," and call it a weakness.

Often, it's not really a weakness - it's what I call a "misaligned strength."

I used to bemoan the fact that I couldn't just stay on one focused track. I would start anything new like a house afire, but once I got past the initial learning stage, my interest would wane.

It seemed that I needed to be constantly stimulated with newness, preferably coming from multiple directions at once. That seemed at odds with the sustained single-track approach to corporate ladder success that I thought I needed to take. I saw it as a weakness, that I got bored too easily, and couldn't keep my focus on one thing.

Now though, that exact same characteristic is a huge strength. I'm working with multiple clients who are all at different stages in their processes. Add to that my speaking, events, and the book I'm working on, and I've got stimulation coming out my ears. And the juice I get from that feeds me, and gives me energy to dream more and do more than I ever thought possible. But for someone who had a very single-track focus, my work would be a living hell.

Hmmmmm, could it be that the single-track focus I worshipped and aspired to before is a weakness in this case? Nope. Just a misaligned strength.